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IN  THE 

PROVINCE  OF  QUEBEC 

1535-1838 


By  HERBERT  S.  BIRKETT,  M.D. 

Professor  of   Otolaryngology,   McGill  University,   Montreal;  Oto- 
laryngologist, Royal  Victoria  Hospital,  Montreal ;  Fellow 
of  the  American  Laryngological  Association. 


NEW  YORK 
1908 


55^1 


Columbia  ®nttietsftp 
intjtettpotiktogorfc 

CoUtge  of  $bp«fitiai«  ani  feurseons 


Reference  Xtbrarp 


A  Brief  Account 


of  THE 


HISTORY  of  MEDICINE 


IN  THE 


PROVINCE   OF  QUEBEC 

1535-1838 


By  HERBERT  S.  BIRKETT,  M.D. 

PROFESSOR  OP  OTOLARYNGOLOGY,    MCGILL    UNIVERSITY,  MONTREAL  ;    OTO- 
LARYNGOLOGIST, ROYAL  VICTORIA  HOSPITAL,  MONTREAL;    FELLOW 
OF  THE  AMERICAN  LARYNGOLOGICAL  ASSOCIATION. 


NEW  YORK 
1908 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Open  Knowledge  Commons 


http://www.archive.org/details/briefaccountofhiOObirk 


ERRATA 
Oh   page   „  for  .'.Preside   Address  deiivered  before  the 
thirteenth  an-"  read  "  thirtieth  an-". 

On   pa,e    „,  5*    ^   *->  <"»   **   ^  ■"—taB-'    ** 

"vaccination." 


Reprinted  from  the  Medical  Record,  July  25,  1608. 


A  BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF 

MEDICINE  IN  THE  PROVINCE  OF 

QUEBEC,  FROM  1535  TO  1838.* 

By  HERBERT  S.  BIRKETT,  M.D.. 

MONTREAL. 

PROFESSOR    OF    OTOLARYNGOLOGY,    MCGILL    UNIVERSITY,  MONTREAL;    OTO- 
LARYNGOLOGIST,   ROYAL   VICTORIA    HOSPITAL,    MONTREAL;    FELLOW 
OF    THE    AMERICAN    LARYNGOLOGICAL    ASSOCIATION. 

Fellows  of  the  American  Laryngological  Asso- 
ciation : 

Permit  me  to  express  my  deep  sense  of  appreci- 
ation of  the  honor  you  conferred  upon  me  in  elect- 
ing me  your  President.  It  has  been  my  endeavor 
to  discharge  the  responsibilities  of  this  high  office 
to  the  best  of  my  abilities,  and  I  trust  to  your  satis- 
faction, and  with  credit  to  the  Association. 

It  is  with  very  great  pleasure  that  the  Medical 
Profession  of  this  city  and  of  this  Dominion  wel- 
come you  to  the  first  convention  of  this  Association 
to  be  held  on  Canadian  soil.  Your  loyal  support 
in  the  preparation  for  this  year's  meeting  and  es- 
pecially the  cooperation  of  our  able  Secretary, 
have  enabled  us  to  present  an  excellent  program 
of  papers  for  your  consideration.  I  can  only  add 
that  we  shall  endeavor  to  make  your  brief  stay  in 
Montreal  as  pleasant  as  I  trust  it  will  be  profitable. 
It  is  fitting  that  I  should  refer  on  such  an  occasion 

*Presidential  address  delivered  before  the  thirteenth  an- 
nual congress  of  the  American  Laryngological  Association, 
held  in  Montreal,  Canada,  on  May  11,  12,  and  13,  1008. 

Copyright,   William  Wood  &   Company 


2  HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE  IN    QUEBEC. 

to  the  loss  which  this  Association  has  sustained  by 
the  death  on  the  9th  of  December  last,  of  one  of 
our  most  eminent  corresponding  members,  Profes- 
sor Moritz  Schmidt.*  Perhaps  I  may  recall  to  you 
the  chief  points  in  his  brilliant  career.  He  was 
born  in  Frankfort-on-Main  on  the  15th  of  March, 
1838.  He  studied  in  Gottingen,  Vienna,  Berlin, 
Utrecht,  England,  and  France,  and  graduated  in 
i860.  After  the  practice  of  general  medicine  for 
twenty-six  years,  he  began  in  1886  to  devote  his 
time  exclusively  to  diseases  of  the  ear,  nose,  throat, 
and  lungs.  He  retired  from  practice  in  1903,  after 
receiving  signal  honors  from  his  colleagues  and  his 
Sovereign.  He  made  many  valuable  contributions 
to  laryngology,  most  notably  the  work  with  which 
you  are  no  doubt  familiar,  on  diseases  of  the  upper 
respiratory  passages. 

At  the  recent  Tuerck-Czermak  Jubilee,  this  Asso- 
ciation was  unfortunately  not  represented,  but  our 
good  wishes  were  conveyed  to  the  President  through 
a  letter  from  the  Secretary. 

We  have  to  chronicle  a  sad  event  in  connection 
with  this  Jubilee,  in  the  sudden  death  from  cardiac 
syncope  on  Wednesday  morning,  April  25,  of  our 
recently  elected  Honorary  Fellow,  Professor  Leo- 
pold von  Schroetter,  who  had  on  the  previous  day 
delivered,  apparently  in  the  best  of  health,  the 
oration  on  the  opening  of  the  First  International 
Congress  of  Rhinolaryngology. 

Hofrat  Professor  Dr.  Leopold  von  Schroetter,* 
Ritter  von  Kristelli,  was  born  in  Graz  on  the  27th 
February,  1837.  He  studied  medicine  at  Vienna, 
and  graduated  in  1861,  receiving  immediately  an 
appointment    as  Assistant  to    Skoda,  after  whose 

*I  desire  to  express  my  indebtedness  to  my  friend,  Sir 
Felix  Semon,  K.C.V.O.,  for  the  notes  kindly  supplied  re- 
garding the  deceased  members. 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  3 

death  he  acted  as  substitute  in  the  professorship  of 
clinical  medicine.  In  1875  he  became  extraordinary 
professor  of  throat  and  chest  affections.  In  1881 
he  was  appointed  Director  of  the  clinic  for  laryn- 
gology in  the  Allgemeine  Krankenhaus.  This  po- 
sition he  relinquished  in  1890  to  accept  the  profes- 
sorship of  clinical  medicine,  which  position  he  was 
about  to  resign,  having  reached  the  age  limit  of  sev- 
enty. 

His  principal  writings  of  laryngological  interest 
are:  "Laryngologische,  Mittheilungen"  (1875), 
"Beitrag  zur  Behandlung  der  Larynxstenosen" 
(1876),  "Vorlesungen  ueber  Krankheiten  des 
Kehlkopfs,"  etc.  (1867),  "Vorlesungen  ueber 
Krankheiten  der  Trachea"  (1901),  besides  many  im- 
portant papers  on  clinical  medicine.  He  took  great 
interest  in  tuberculosis,  and  was  the  founder  of  the 
celebrated  Austrian  Sanitorium  "Alland."  Together 
with  Stoerk  and  Schnitzler,  he  was  one  of  the  three 
great  laryngological  authorities  of  Vienna.  Finally, 
his  taking  part  in  the  celebrated  November  Consul- 
tation of  1887  in  the  case  of  the  then  Crown-Prince 
of  Germany,  has  become  historical. 

Dr.  Newcomb,  our  worthy  Secretary,  has  but  ex- 
pressed, I  am  sure,  our  concordant  wish  in  con- 
veying to  the  families  of  our  deceased  members, 
the  sincere  condolences  of  this  Association  on  the 
loss  of  such  distinguished  men. 

The  unique  significance  of  this  time  and  place 
have  suggested  to  me  the  topic  upon  which  I  am  to 
address  you.  I  feel  that  the  honor  which  you  have 
conferred  upon  me  in  electing  me  your  President  is 
in  a  sense  international,  and  may  perhaps  justify 
the  choice  of  a  subject  which  is  in  a  measure  na- 
tional in  its  scope.  It  occurred  to  me  that  a  brief 
account  of  the  early  history  of  medicine  in  the  prov- 
ince of   Quebec  might  not  be  inappropriate  in  a 


4  HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE   IN    QUEBEC. 

meeting  which  is  held  for  the  first  time  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Association  in  Canada,  in  this,  the  oldest 
Province  of  the  Dominion,  and  on  this,  the  tercen- 
tenary of  the  founding  of  Quebec  by  Samuel  de 
Champlain. 

On  the  3rd  of  July,  1908,  Canada  will  celebrate 
the  three-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  foundation 
of  Quebec,  the  real  birthday  of  the  Canadian  na- 
tion. The  history  of  medicine  in  this  Province, 
however,  began  seventy-three  years  before,  when 
Jacques  Cartier  built  his  rude  fort  on  the  banks 
of  the  St.  Charles,  facing  the  Indian  village  of 
Stadacone. 

It  was  on  the  14th  of  September,  1535,  that  Car- 
tier  chose  this  place  as  a  temporary  shelter,  and 
leaving  his  men  to  construct  an  abode  against  the 
approaching  winter,  sailed  up  the  river  St.  Law- 
rence as  far  as  the  village  of  Hochelaga,  the  site 
of  which  includes  a  part  of  the  grounds  of  Mc- 
Gill  University. 

Upon  his  return  to  Stadacone,  he  found  the  little 
fort  in  a  state  of  alarm.  Scurvy  had  broken  out 
in  the  Indian  villages,  and  according  to  the  account 
of  the  leader  of  the  tribe,  fifty  had  already  suc- 
cumbed. Every  precaution  possible  was  taken  to 
prevent  intercourse  with  the  natives ;  but  neverthe- 
less the  disease  began  to  manifest  itself  among 
Carder's  crew,  "insomuch  as  some  did  lose  all  their 
strength,  and  could  not  stand  on  their  feete,  then 
did  their  legges  swel,  their  sinnowes  shrinke  as 
blacke  as  any  cole.  Others  also  had  all  their  skins 
spotted  with  spots  of  blood  of  a  purple  coulour; 
then  did  it  ascend  up  to  their  ankels,  knees,  thighes, 
shoulders,  armes  and  necks :  their  mouth  became 
stincking,  their  gummes  so  rotten  that  all  the  flesh 
did  fall  off,  even  to  the  rootes  of  the  teeth,  which 
did  also  almost  all  fall  out.    With  such  infection  did 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  5 

this  sickness  spread  itselfe  in  our  three  ships,  that 
about  the  middle  of  February,  of  a  hundreth  and 
tenne  persons  that  we  were,  there  were  not  ten 
whole,  so  that  one  could  not  helpe  the  other,  a  most 
horrible  and  pitifull  case,  considering  the  place  we 
were  in,  forsomuch  as  the  people  of  the  countrey 
would  dayly  come  before  our  fort  and  saw  but  few 
of  us.  There  were  alreadie  eight  dead,  and  more 
than  fifty  sicke,  and  as  we  thought,  past  all  hope  of 
recovery." 

The  winter  wore  on;  disease  and  death  fell  like  a 
pall  over  the  little  fort,  and  Cartier  was  threatened 
with  a  danger  more  to  be  feared  even  than  scurvy. 
Upon  the  heights  of  Cape  Diamond  stood  the  vil- 
lages of  the  Ajoaste,  Starnatam  and  Tailla,  branches 
of  the  ferocious  Iroquois,  the  first  passion  of  whose 
souls  was  war.  Hitherto  they  had  been  overawed 
by  the  presence  of  the  wonderful  ships  manned  by 
sturdy  crews,  but  gradually,  as  signs  of  activity  dis- 
appeared among  the  white  men,  they  grew  bolder, 
and  at  any  moment  the  sound  of  the  war-whoop 
might  be  the  signal  for  an  invasion  of  the  ships. 

Among  the  crew,  there  was  evidently  a  man 
possessing  a  knowledge  of  surgery,  who  determined 
to  hold  a  postmortem  on  the  body  of  one  Philip 
Rougemont,  22  years  of  age;  to  ascertain  the  cause 
of  death,  and,  if  possible,  save  the  remnants  of  the 
ship's  company.  Here,  in  the  quaint  language  of 
the  time,  is  the  result  of  the  first  autopsy  held  in 
Canada :  "He  was  found  to  have  his  heart  white,  but 
rotten,  and  more  than  a  quart  of  water  about  it ;  his 
liver  was  indifferent  faire,  but  his  lungs  blacke  and 
mortified,  his  blood  was  altogether  shrunke  about 
the  heart  so  that  when  he  was  opened,  great  quan- 
tise of  rotten  blood  issued  out  from  about  his 
heart;  his  milt  towards  the  backe  was  somewhat 
perished,  rough  as  if  it  had  been  rubbed  against  a 


O  HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC. 

stone.  Moreover,  because  one  of  his  thighs  was 
very  blacke  without,  it  was  opened,  but  within,  it 
was  whole  and  sound :  that  done,  as  well  as  we 
could  he  was  buried." 

The  captain  was  a  man  of  observation.  Walking 
one  day  on  the  ice,  he  perceived  a  band  of  the  In- 
dians from  Stadacone;  amongst  them  was  one  Do- 
maguaya,who,  less  than  two  weeks  before,  was  in  the 
grip  of  the  disease,  "with  his  knees  swolne  as  bigge 
as  a  child  of  two  years  old,  all  his  sinews  schrunke 
together,  his  teeth  spoyled,  his  gummes  rotten  and 
stincking.  Our  captain  seeing  him  whole  and 
sound,  was  thereat  marvellous  glad,  hoping  to  un- 
derstand and  know  of  him  how  he  had  healed  him- 
selfe,  to  the  end  that  he  might  ease  and  help  his 
men."  from  Domaguaya  he  learned  that  the  specific 
was  the  bark  and  sap  of  a  certain  tree  called  in 
their  language  "Ameda."  This  tree  is  known  to- 
day as  'Tepinette,"  or  the  spruce.  The  method  of 
preparation  was  as  follows: 

"To  take  the  bark  and  leaves  of  the  sayd  tree, 
and  boile  them  together,  then  to  drink  of  the  sayd 
decoction  every  other  day,  and  to  put  the  dregs  of 
it  upon  his  legges  that  is  sicke :  moreover  they  told 
us  that  the  vertue  of  that  tree  was  to  heale  any 
other  disease." 

The  sailors  in  those  days  as  in  these  were  trou- 
bled with  another  complaint,  "French  Pockes,"  but 
after  liberal  doses  of  the  bark,  they  "were  cleane 
healed."  From  this  time  forth,  the  decoction  was 
at  a  premium  and  men  were  ready  to  kill  each  other 
in  their  eagerness  to  test  its  efficiency,  "so  that  a 
tree  as  big  as  any  oake  in  France,  was  spoiled  and 
lopped  bare,  and  occupied  all  in  five  or  six  daies, 
and  it  wrought  so  wel,  that  if  all  the  phisicians  of 
Montpelier  and  Lovaine  had  bene  there  with  all  the 
drugs  of  Alexandria,  they  would  not  have  done  so 


HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  7 

much  in  one  yere,  as  that  tree  did  in  sixe  daies,  for 
it  did  so  prevaile,  that  as  many  as  used  of  it,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  recovered  their  health." 

With  the  opening  of  navigation,  however,  Cartier 
returned  to  France,  prepared  for  fresh  deeds  of 
adventure.  Brave,  indeed,  were  the  hearts  of  those 
men  who  lived  their  lives  under  the  perpetual  men- 
ace of  destruction,  facing  the  perils  of  the  deep  to 
meet  the  still  greater  dangers  of  pestilence  on  land. 
Steadfast,  heroic,  subdued  only  by  the  grim  reaper, 
Death,  such  were  the  discoverers  of  old. 

Cartier  visited  our  shore  again,  and  spent  another 
winter  under  scarcely  more  favorable  conditions, 
notwithstanding  that  he  had  found  a  sovereign  rem- 
edy for  scurvy.  With  his  departure  from  our  shores 
in  1542,  a  curtain  falls  over  the  history  of  the  coun- 
try, between  Stadacone  and  Hochelaga,  for  a  period 
of  sixty  years,  and  we  find  no  reliable  account  of  a 
settlement  on  the  banks  of  the  Saint  Lawrence. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  year  1578,  there  were  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  vessels  engaged  in  trade  with  France 
in  the  Saint  Lawrence,  and  over  two  hundred  ships 
belonging  to  the  English,  the  Spanish,  and  the  Por- 
tuguese. We  may  presume,  therefore,  that  there 
were  temporary  settlements,  and  it  is  probable  that 
medical  supervision  in  some  form  was  not  over- 
looked. 

In  the  month  of  April,  1604,  Des  Monts  under- 
took to  colonize  New  France,  and  among  the  men 
who  accompanied  him  was  Louis  Hebert,  an  apothe- 
cary, born  in  Paris.  Hebert  remained  at  Port 
Royal  until  the  month  of  August,  1607,  when  the 
settlement  was  abandoned.  Ten  years  later,  he 
was  invited  by  Champlain  to  take  up  his  residence 
at  Quebec,  and  he  was  among  the  first  real  settlers 
who  cultivated  the  soil  for  a  livelihood. 

His  residence  was  in  the  Upper  Town,  near  the 


tf  HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE   IN    QUEBEC. 

Basilica.  He  soon  became  a  prominent  figure  in 
the  little  community,  and  in  1621  was  named  "Royal 
Procurator."  The  first  entry  of  a  marriage  in  Que- 
bec is  that  of  Hebert's  daughter.  In  1626  he  was 
granted  the  fief  St.  Joseph  on  the  river  Saint 
Charles,  with  the  title  of  Sieur  d'Espinay.  He  died 
in  January,  1627,  as  the  result  of  an  accident,  and 
was  buried  in  the  cemetery  of  the  Recollets.  He 
appears  to  have  been  held  in  high  esteem  by  the 
Governor,  the  Recollets,  and  the  citizens. 

When  Champlain  arrived  in  Canada  in  1608,  he 
left  his  ships  at  Tadoussac,  near  the  Saguenay,  and 
sailed  up  the  Saint  Lawrence  in  a  small  craft  to 
found  the  future  city  of  Quebec.  In  his  company 
were  a  number  of  mechanics,  and  a  surgeon  named 
Bonnerme.  The  axemen  felled  the  trees  on  the 
narrow  belt  which  skirts  the  promontory  of  Cape 
Diamond,  and  soon  a  modest  building  arose,  rudely 
fashioned  into  a  fort,  styled  the  "Abitation  de 
Quebec."  While  this  building  was  in  the  course 
of  construction  a  plot  was  developing  to  murder 
Champlain  and  deliver  Quebec  into  the  hands  of  a 
band  of  Spaniards  at  Tadoussac.  Bonnerme  was 
suspected  of  complicity  in  the  plot,  but  his  inno- 
cence was  established  and  he  was  released.  He  died, 
however,  during  the  winter  from  the  effects  of 
either  scurvy  or  dysentery.  It  is  difficult  to  de- 
termine which  disease  decimated  the  colony. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Quebec  was 
Adrien  Duchesne,  a  surgeon  of  Dieppe,  who  prob- 
ably arrived  in  161 8.  When  Champlain  surrendered 
the  fort  to  Sir  David  Kirke  in  1629,  Duchesne  re- 
mained and  practised  his  profession  under  the  Eng- 
lish regime.  The  colony  was  restored  to  France  in 
1632,  under  the  treaty  of  St.  Germain-en-Laye,  and 
a  year  later  Champlain  returned  as  Governor.  A 
few  months  before  the  death  of  the  Governor  in 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE   IN   QUEBEC.  9 

1635  Duchesne  received  a  grant  of  land  from  the 
Crown  and  later  transferred  it  to  Abraham  Martin, 
after  whom  the  Plains  of  Abraham  were  named. 
In  1645-6  we  find  him  interested  in  the  young 
Charles  Lemoine,  Seigneur  of  Longueuil,  and  father 
of  the  famous  Iberville.  His  practice  extended  from 
Quebec  to  the  post  at  Three  Rivers,  midway  be- 
tween Quebec  and  Montreal. 

Another  surgeon,  a  contemporary  of  Champlain, 
was  Robert  Giffard,  Sieur  de  Beauport,  a  native  of 
Mortagne  au  Perche  in  France.  He  was  born  in 
1587  and  came  to  Quebec  in  1628  in  the  capacity 
of  surgeon  to  the  company  of  "The  Hundred  As- 
sociates." He  resided  on  the  Beauport  shore  and 
appears  to  have  spent  his  leisure  in  hunting  and 
fishing.  A  year  later,  however,  Quebec  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  English,  and  he  returned  to  France. 
After  the  restoration,  he  obtained  a  grant  of  the 
Seigneury  of  Beauport  in  1634.  He  was  evidently 
a  man  of  considerable  influence  and  enterprise,  for 
within  the  space  of  two  years  he  induced  fifty  ex- 
cellent families  to  settle  on  the  banks  of  the  Saint 
Lawrence. 

The  task  of  colonization  in  those  days  was  ex- 
ceedingly difficult.  Canada  was  under  the  monopoly 
of  the  great  fur  trading  companies,  whose  policy 
was  opposed  to  any  extensive  plan  of  settlement. 
A  sufficient  number  of  residents  to  facilitate  trade 
was  all  that  was  thought  desirable.  His  efforts, 
therefore,  under  the  circumstances,  were  remark- 
able. 

In  1647  Giffard  obtained  a  larger  grant  of  land, 
known  as  the  fief  St.  Gabriel.  A  year  later,  he 
was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Council,  a  body  em- 
powered to  enact  local  laws  and  to  arbitrate  the  dif- 
ferences of  private  individuals.  He  practised  his 
profession  in  Quebec  and  in  the  surrounding  coun- 


10  HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE   IN    QUEBEC. 

try,  and  was  visiting  physician  to  the  Hotel  Dieu, 
founded  in  1639.  Giffard  was  recognized  as  a 
man  of  considerable  importance  in  his  time,  and 
when  he  died  in  1648  the  community  of  the  Hotel 
Dieu  felt  that  they  had  lost  not  only  an  eminent 
physician,  but  a  true  friend. 

The  colony  founded  by  Champlain  at  the  foot  of 
Cape  Diamond  had  been  in  existence  for  half  a 
century,  but  its  institutions  were  still  very  primitive. 
In  1658  Jean  Madry,  a  surgeon  of  Quebec,  while 
on  a  visit  to  France,  obtained  from  the  Sieur  Bar- 
nois,  Premier  Surgeon  in  Ordinary  to  the  King,  and 
Provost  of  the  Royal  College  of  St.  Come,  in  the 
University  of  Paris,  "Letters  of  Surgeon"  for  him- 
self, with  power  to  establish  in  all  parts  of  Canada 
the  authority  of  surgery  in  order  that  the  sick  might 
receive  more  efficient  medical  care.  These  letters 
were  registered  in  the  Sovereign  Council  at  Quebec, 
but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  of  much  service 
to  the  profession.  Little  appears  to  have  been  pre- 
served regarding  Madry.  He  was  elected  the  first 
Mayor  of  Quebec,  an  office  which  was  abolished 
after  a  trial  of  five  weeks.  The  machinery  of  mu- 
nicipal government  was  too  complicated  and  ex- 
pensive for  the  needs  of  a  community  of  less  than 
five  hundred  souls. 

There  was  at  this  time  evidently  a  need  of  more 
physicians  to  attend  the  wants  of  the  settlers,  for 
we  find  that  Jean  Martinet,  Sieur  de  Fonblanche, 
who  was  born  in  Moustiers,  Bourgogne,  undertook 
to  teach  his  brother-in-law,  Paul  Prudhomme,  the 
art  of  medicine  and  surgery  by  the  system  of  ap- 
prenticeship. This  is  the  first  recorded  instance  of 
a  method  of  teaching,  which  subsequently  became 
much  in  vogue.  This  system  led  to  such  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  physicians  that  keen  competition 
and  rivalrv  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a  form 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  II 

of  "combine"  or  partnership.  Those  entering  into 
such  a  partnership  "pooled  all  their  possessions,  fur- 
niture, provisions,  roots,  and  peltry ;  all  the  products 
which  they  gathered  from  the  ground,  their  instru- 
ments of  surgery,  their  medicines,  and  lastly,  all  the 
revenue  which  they  would  obtain  from  their  work 
and  industry."  It  was  further  agreed  that 
each  of  them  would  devote  himself  to  the  profit  of 
the  partnership  as  far  as  lay  in  his  power,  and  that 
he  would  not  run  into  debt  (without  the  authority 
of  his  associates)  exceeding  the  sum  of  five  sous. 
At  the  end  of  four  years  the  profits  were  equally 
divided.  It  was  further  stipulated  that  in  the  case 
of  the  death  of  a  member  before  the  expiration  of 
this  term,  all  the  goods  of  the  community  would  be- 
long to  the  survivors. 

An  interesting  physician  of  this  period  was  Dr. 
Gaulthier,  who,  as  a  corresponding  member  of  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Sciences,  had  made  many  botan- 
ical observations  in  Canada.  It  was  he  who  dis- 
covered the  wintergreen  plant,  which  to-day  carries 
his  name,  and  is  known  as  the  "Gaultheria  Procum- 
bens."  Gaulthier  devoted  himself  also  to  the  study 
of  law  under  the  tutorship  of  the  Sieur  Verrier, 
Procurator-General. 

With  the  considerable  increase  of  population,  not 
only  at  Quebec,  but  also  at  Ville-Marie  (Montreal), 
disease  in  various  forms  had  become  much  more 
prevalent.  Smallpox,  especially,  had  spread  to  such 
a  degree  that  it  was  necessary  to  provide  some  suit- 
able place  to  care  for  and  attend  the  unfortunate 
sick. 

The  Duchesse  d'Aiguillon,  finding  such  an  unfor- 
tunate condition  of  affairs,  decided  to  found  a  hos- 
pital, and  sent  from  Dieppe  a  certain  number  of 
nuns.  She  received  a  grant  of  land  in  1637,  and  es- 
tablished in  1639  the  Hotel  Dieu  at  Quebec.    Of  the 


12  HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IX   QUEBEC. 

attending  staff  of  this  hospital  there  is  one  who  de- 
serves especial  notice,  Michel  Sarrazin,  who  came 
to  Canada  in  the  capacity  of  Surgeon-Major  of 
the  French  troops.  After  practising  his  profession 
in  Quebec  for  some  years  he  returned  to  France 
for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  his  medical  studies  at 
the  University  of  Rennes.  Three  years  later  he 
received  the  title  of  Physician  to  the  King,  and  was 
delegated  by  the  Academy  of  Science  of  France  to 
make  a  special  study  of  animals  and  plants  in  Can- 
ada. His  work  in  this  direction  was  remarkable. 
In  the  Transactions  of  the  Academy  of  Science  for 
1704  there  appears  a  paper  by  Sarrazin  on  the 
"Anatomy  of  the  Beaver"  which  even  to-day  is  re- 
garded as  the  best  work  on  the  subject.  His  fur- 
ther anatomical  researches  dealt  with  the  muskrat, 
the  seal,  and  groundhog.  He  also  investigated  the 
mineral  waters  at  Cap  de  la  Madeleine.  In  his 
botanical  researches  he  discovered  the  pitcher  plant, 
which  is  known  to-day  as  the  "Sarracenia  Pur- 
purea." In  recognition  of  these  extensive  re- 
searches he  received  a  pension  of  550  pounds.  To 
Sarrazin's  skill  as  a  physician  the  records  of  the 
Hotel  Dieu  bear  ample  testimony. 

Expansion  and  colonization  in  this  new  country 
frequently  followed  in  the  wake  of  missionary  ac- 
tivity. "Not  a  cape  was  turned,"  writes  Park- 
man,  "but  a  Jesuit  led  the  way."  Few  more  striking 
examples  of  religious  enterprise  are  to  be  found 
than  the  establishment  of  the  little  colony  at  Ville- 
Marie  (Montreal).  The  founders  were  Jerome 
Royer  de  la  Dauversiere,  receiver  of  taxes  at  La 
Fleche  in  Anjou,  and  Jean  Jacques  Olier,  a  young 
priest  of  Paris.  To  both  of  these  men  there  came 
at  nearly  the  same  time  ( 1636)  the  idea  of  founding 
a  religious  colony  at  Montreal.  They  formed  an 
association  for  this  purpose  and  called  it  the  "Soci- 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  13 

ety  of  Montreal."  At  first  the  society  consisted  of 
six  members,  but  the  number  was  soon  increased  to 
forty.  Among  these  was  Madame  de  Bullion,  who 
gave  42,000  livres  for  the  purpose  of  endowing  a 
hospital  in  the  new  settlement.  In  1641  Paul  du 
Chomedey,  Sieur  de  Maisonneuve,  set  out  for  New 
France  with  a  company  of  100  soldiers  under  his 
command.  Among  those  who  joined  the  expedi- 
tion was  Mademoiselle  Jeanne  Mance,  the  descen- 
dant of  an  honorable  and  influential  family  in 
France,  who  became  a  member  of  the  Society  of 
Montreal.  To  Mademoiselle  Mance  was  entrusted 
the  control  of  the  funds  given  by  Madame  de 
Bullion,  for  the  establishment  of  a  hospital  at  Mont- 
real. On  the  arrival  of  the  expedition  in  the  Saint 
Lawrence,  the  summer  was  found  too  far  ad- 
vanced to  proceed  to  Montreal,  so  the  win- 
ter was  spent  in  Quebec.  Many  efforts  were 
put  forth  to  dissuade  the  company  from  push- 
ing on  to  Montreal,  but  in  vain.  The  following 
spring  they  sailed  up  the  Saint  Lawrence  and  took 
possession  of  the  island  on  the  17th  May,  1642.  The 
settlement  was  named  Ville-Marie  in  honor  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  to  whom  it  was  especially  dedicated. 
Of  a  hospital,  however,  there  seemed  for  a  time 
to  be  little  need.  The  colony  was  exceptionally  free 
from  sickness,  and  there  were  as  yet  no  wounded  to 
be  attended,  for  the  Iroquois  knew  nothing  of  the 
little  settlement  and  left  the  colonists  to  build  in 
peace.  Mile.  Mance  even  suggested  that  the  endow- 
ment for  the  hospital  be  given  to  the  Jesuit  Mis- 
sions. To  this,  however,  Madame  de  Bullion  re- 
fused to  consent.  Work  on  the  hospital  was  con- 
tinued, and  the  building  was  opened  on  the  8th  of 
October,  1644.  There  were  two  rooms  for  the  sick, 
a  room  for  Mile.  Mance,  a  kitchen,  apartments  for 
the  servants,  and  a  chapel  10  feet  square,  built  of 


14  HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE   IN    QUEBEC. 

stone.  During  the  following  year  the  furniture, 
medicine,  and  surgical  instruments  arrived,  and  some 
live  stock  was  brought  for  the  use  of  the  inmates. 
The  usefulness  of  such  an  institution  was  soon  con- 
ceded, for  scarcely  had  the  walls  been  completed 
when  news  of  the  settlement  reached  the  Iroquois 
and  encounters  with  the  savages  began.  The 
wounded  were  among  the  first  to  reap  the  benefit  of 
the  shelter  and  careful  attention  which  the  hospital 
afforded. 

A  few  years  later  it  was  rumored  that  the  "So- 
ciety of  Montreal"  had  lost  interest  in  the  under- 
taking, and  was  on  the  point  of  dissolution.  This 
prompted  Mile.  Mance  to  return  to  France  and  ap- 
proach Madame  de  Bullion  for  further  assistance 
for  the  hospital.  In  this  she  was  entirely  successful. 
It  now  became  evident  as  the  work  of  fortification 
went  on  that  the  hospital  was  likely  to  become  per- 
manently established.  The  Iroquois,  however,  de- 
cided to  renew  their  attempts  to  destroy  it.  In  July, 
165 1,  the  hospital  was  besieged,  and  had  to  be  aban- 
doned. The  defenders  took  refuge  in  the  fort.  The 
colony  was  in  danger  of  destruction  and  it  was  nec- 
essary to  have  reinforcements.  To  procure  aid, 
Maisonneuve  undertook  a  journey  to  France,  for 
which  the  hospital  endowment  furnished  the  money. 
Upon  his  return  with  more  than  100  men  a  new 
hospital  was  built  and  opened  in  the  spring  of  1654. 
The  reinforcement  of  men  brought  by  Maisonneuve 
put  new  life  into  the  colony,  and  enabled  them  suc- 
cessfully to  resist  the  Iroquois.  Thus,  a  second, 
time,  Mile.  Mance,  by  her  judicious  use  of  the  en- 
dowment funds  of  the  hospital,  saved  the  colony  of 
Montreal. 

In  1657  Mile.  Mance,  who  had  been  Directress 
of  the  hospital  since  its  foundation,  fell  on  the  ice, 
fractured  her  right  arm,  and  dislocated  her  wrist. 


HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE   IN   QUEBEC.  15 

Etienne  Bouchard,  a  surgeon,  set  the  arm,  but  failed 
to  discover  the  dislocation  of  the  wrist.  Jean  Madry 
also  examined  her  injuries  but  with  no  better  suc- 
cess. The  arm  remained  entirely  useless  until  Mile. 
Mance's  temporary  return  to  France  occasioned  by 
the  financial  needs  of  the  hospital.  Here  the  use 
of  her  arm,  pronounced  by  the  most  eminent  sur- 
geons in  Paris  to  be  beyond  recovery,  was  miracu- 
lously restored  by  touching  the  casket  containing  the 
heart  of  M.  Olier.  Mile.  Mance  issued  the  follow- 
ing statement  in  writing,  regarding  the  miraculous 
cure: 


A/nan, 

J^ul  4£onsuui,r  Cu^uir  olqw>  sat? 
j&$sjC&i.ou&>  /ncL/u0v^.. 

.-.. - —  -. £■!&&, 

ac,rv6~  e£si#nL  c£jl  la.  mu/ruL  mai,n. 
cmrv£  ZajcrzceiL  liu^^j  k/iarij  at,  lj 


l6  HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC. 

"Au  Nom  de  la  Tres  Sainte  Trinite,  Amen." 
"Je,  Jeanne  Mance,  reconnais  et  confesse  en  la  pre- 
sence de  mon  Dieu  avoir  receu  de  l'usage  de  ma 
"main  droite  par  les  merites  de  feu  Monsieur  Olier 
"ce  qui  s'est  passe  en  ceste  maniere 

"Je  declare  que  tout  ce  que  j'ay  escrit  cy-dessus 
"en  ces  deux  petites  feuilles  est  veritable  et  sincere 
"en  foi  de  quoy  je  l'ay  escrit  et  signe  de  la  mesme 
"main  dont  j'ay  receu  l'usage  a  Paris,  ce  13  Fevurier, 

"i659 

"Jeanne  Mance" 

The  efforts  to  secure  additional  funds  for  the  hos- 
pital from  Madame  de  Bullion  were  successful.  Of 
the  22,000  francs  obtained  for  the  purpose,  Mile. 
Mance  entrusted  20,000  to  the  care  of  Le  Royer  de 
la  Dauversiere  for  the  purpose  of  investment;  but 
upon  his  death  it  was  found  that  the  funds  had  been 
misappropriated,  and  the  hospital  was  left  without 
necessary  means  properly  to  carry  on  the  work. 
On  account  of  this  loss,  the  inmates  were  reduced 
to  extreme  poverty,  and  suffered  intensely  from  the 
cold  and  lack  of  nourishing  food.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances Mile.  Mance  continued  to  administer  the 
affairs  of  the  hospital  until  1673.  After  her  death 
in  that  year  the  financial  affairs  of  the  hospital 
caused  increasing  anxiety.  The  income  had  been 
reduced  by  heavy  losses  to  12,000  livres  a  year, 
400  of  which  were  derived  from  the  cultivation  of 
one  hundred  arpents  of  land.  Owing  to  the  French 
Revolution  their  revenue  for  a  time  was  lost  alto- 
gether, but  the  funds  were  recovered  in  1821. 

Hotel  Dieu  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1695,  m  172lt 
and  in  1734. 

During  the  siege  of  Quebec  in  1759  Surgeon  Rob- 
ert Adair  established  hospitals  for  the  British  on 
the  Island  of  Orleans,  while  the  surgeons  of  Quebec 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  17 

appear  to  have  attended  to  the  needs  of  the  French. 
Andre  Arnoux,  a  native  of  Rochfort,  was  surgeon- 
major  of  the  French  troops.  He  and  his  son  es- 
tablished themselves  on  St.  Louis  Street  near  the 
Ursuline  Convent.  When  Montcalm  received  his 
mortal  wound  on  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember, he  was  taken  to  the  home  of  the  surgeon 
where  his  wounds  were  dressed  by  the  younger  Ar- 
noux. It  was  here  that  Montcalm  died  at  four 
o'clock  on  the  following  morning. 

About  the  year  1773  the  attention  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Lower  Canada  was  drawn  to  the  in- 
creasing ravages  of  a  peculiar  disease,  which,  orig- 
inating at  Mai  Baie,  had  spread  to  other  parts  of  the 
Province.  A  tradition  exists  that  it  was  brought  to 
Mai  Baie  by  a  detachment  of  Scottish  troops  who 
were  either  sent  there  on  service  or  had  been  thrown 
there  by  some  accident  of  navigation  a  few  years 
before.  The  great  resemblance  of  this  disorder  to 
syphilis  and  its  disgusting  character  led  the  unhappy 
sufferers  who  were  aware  of  that  resemblance  to 
conceal  their  condition  as  long  as  possible;  while 
those  who  were  not  aware  of  it  looked  upon  the 
symptoms  as  the  result  of  scurvy  and  trusted  to  or- 
dinary remedies  or  to  time  for  relief.  From  both 
these  causes,  in  addition  to  the  remoteness  of  the 
parish  where  the  disease  first  made  its  appearance, 
and  the  want  of  medical  assistance  on  the  spot,  the 
disease  was  not  commonly  known  until  it  reached 
such  a  height  as  to  require  the  attention  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

The  symptoms  of  the  disease  as  stated  in  a  private 
description  circulated  by  the  Government  in  1785, 
are  as  follows : 

"Ulcerations  appear  on  the  soft  palate,  tonsils, 
uvula,  and  mucous  membrane  of  the  mouth.  As 
time  goes  on,  these  extend  and  cause  destruction  of 


l8  HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE   IN   QUEBEC. 

these  parts.  At  a  later  period  nodes  appear  on  the 
head,  arms,  legs  and  trunk,  which,  breaking  down, 
produce  extensive  stinking  ulceration.  When  the 
disease  has  attacked  the  nose  for  a  length  of  time, 
it  results  often  in  the  bridge  falling  in.  Loss  of 
the  hair  of  the  head,  eyesight,  and  hearing,  and  a 
horrible  stench  are  generally  the  precursors  of  death. 
No  one  is  exempt  from  the  disease,  the  child  at  the 
breast  as  well  as  the  aged  or  infirm  being  equally 
attacked." 

Shortly  after  the  disease  first  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Government  in  1775,  General  Carleton, 
who  was  Governor  at  the  time,  sent  a  surgeon's  mate 
of  the  Seventh  Regiment  to  St.  Paul's  Bay  with 
instructions  to  administer  medical  relief.  Upon  in- 
vestigation the  remedy  which  he  distributed  was 
found  to  consist  of  calomel  and  mercurial  ointments. 
This  officer  was  recalled  to  Quebec,  and  upon  his 
death,  Philippe  Louis  Frangois  Badelard,  who  came 
from  France  as  Assistant-Major  of  the  French 
troops,  was  appointed  by  General  Haldimand,  after 
the  departure  of  General  Carleton,  to  investigate 
the  disease  and  report  thereon.  He  therefore  wrote 
a  pamphlet  on  the  subject,  which  was  printed  by 
the  Government.  It  is  stated  that  the  use  of  the 
foregoing  remedies  resulted  in  many  of  the  afflicted 
ones  being  cured. 

Upon  the  exact  nature  of  this  disease  the  opin- 
ions of  medical  men  were  found  to  differ.  Among 
those  most  keenly  interested  in  the  subject  was  Dr. 
John  Bowman,  who  was  employed  by  the  Govern- 
ment in  investigating  the  affected  districts  and  in 
distributing  the  remedies.  One  Robert  Jones  of 
Montreal  wrote  an  elaborate  pamphlet,  published 
in  Montreal  in  1786,  to  prove  that  the  disease  was 
not  syphilis;  while  a  letter  of  Dr.  Charles  Blake, 
Surgeon  of   H.   M.  Thirty-ninth  Regiment,  states 


HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  19 

that:  "This  disease  is  nothing  more  than  a  con- 
firmed syphilis  showing  itself  in  different  ways  in 
different  parts  of  the  body  and  making  anomalous 
symptoms  and  appearances  accordingly.  The  hab- 
its of  the  Canadians  facilitate  its  communication  in 
various  ways.  They  use  the  same  cup,  often  bor- 
row one  another's  pipe  to  smoke,  chew  their  infants' 
food  and  spit  it  into  their  mouths.  They  constantly 
spit  on  their  floors,  and  never  clean  them,  and  the 
lower  classes  are  generally  regardless  of  cleanliness. 
All  these  circumstances  help  to  communicate  the 
disease,  which  may  take  effect  anywhere  that  the 
skin  happens  to  be  broken.  The  disease  being  of  the 
nature  already  stated,  it  gives  way  to  no  remedy  but 
mercury." 

The  Province  of  Quebec  had  as  yet  no  facilities 
for  teaching  medicine  other  than  the  form  of  ap- 
prenticeship which  did  not  appeal  to  the  ambitious 
student.  It  was  necessary,  therefore,  to  go  else- 
where for  a  medical  education.  The  earliest  student 
to  go  abroad  was  Francois  Blanchet,  who  was  born 
in  1776,  and  received  his  preliminary  education  at 
the  Seminary  at  Quebec.  At  the  completion  of  his 
course  at  the  Seminary,  he  studied  medicine  in  New 
York,  and  published  a  work  on  "The  Application  of 
Chemistry  to  Medicine."  After  graduation,  Blanchet 
returned  to  his  native  home,  Quebec,  and  entered 
upon  the  practice  of  his  profession.  His  ambition, 
however,  was  not  satisfied  in  medicine.  He 
launched  into  journalism,  founded  a  newspaper 
called  Le  Canadien,  published  several  seditious 
articles,  and  was  imprisoned  for  a  short  time  by  the 
haughty  Governor.  His  active  interest  in  politics 
and  education,  however,  led  to  his  election  as  a 
member  of  the  legislative  assembly,  and  it  was  he 
who  proposed  during  his  tenure  of  office  the  first 
law  on  education.     During  the  war  of  1812  he  oc- 


20  HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE   IN    QUEBEC. 

cupied  the  post  of  Chief  Medical  Officer  in  this 
province. 

Following  the  example  of  his  preceptor,  Blanchet, 
we  find  Jacques  Labrie,  after  serving  his  appren- 
ticeship, going  to  Edinburgh  to  complete  his  course 
of  studies.  He  was  the  first  to  visit  and  study  at 
the  Royal  University  there.  Before  leaving  for  Ed- 
inburgh, Labrie  founded  a  newspaper  called  Le 
Courrier,  which  announced  his  return  to  his  native 
city  in  August,  1808.  Like  his  preceptor,  Labrie 
entered  politics  and  became  a  member  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Assembly;  and  it  is  to  him  and  his  medical 
colleagues  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  institution 
of  those  tribunals  which  now  guard  the  honor  of 
the  medical  profession. 

The  condition  of  the  medical  profession  and  the 
state  of  education  were,  like  everything  else,  in  a 
state  of  transition.  The  medical  men  of  good  pro- 
fessional status  who  were  practising  in  the  country 
at  this  time  were  either  Canadians  who  had  served 
their  apprenticeship  with  a  physician  of  standing 
and  then  gone  to  the  mother  country  for  gradua- 
tion and  further  study ;  or  they  were,  as  often  hap- 
pened, Englishmen  and  Scotchmen  who  had  received 
their  entire  training  at  home.  Many  of  these  were 
former  army  surgeons  who  had  found  the  demand 
for  their  medical  services  in  civil  life  so  great  that 
they  had  retired  from  active  duty  and  were  engaged 
only  in  their  profession  as  private  practitioners.  It 
is  said  that  the  type  of  Englishmen  who  thus  first 
practised  medicine  in  Canada  was  as  good  as  Brit- 
ish education  could  make  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  was  natural  in  a  country 
where  there  was  no  provision  for  medical  educa- 
tion, and  where  the  demand  for  medical  assistance 
far  exceeded  the  supply,  quackery  seems  to  have 
flourished  abundantly.    It  was  to  correct  such  a  con- 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  21 

dition  of  affairs  that  in  1750  the  Intendant  Bigot 
introduced  an  ordinance  which  may  be  considered 
the  code  of  the  medical  profession  in  Canada.  This 
ruling  provided  that  no  one  should  practice  medicine 
without  passing  an  examination.  Those  wishing  to 
practise  in  a  city  were  to  be  examined  before  the 
Physician  of  the  King  in  the  presence  of  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of  the  Jurisdiction.  Those  wish- 
ing to  practise  in  the  outlying  districts  were  to  pass 
an  examination  before  the  Physician  of  the  King 
and  a  sub-delegate. 

This  ruling  continued  until  1788,  when  the  Brit- 
ish Parliament  passed  an  act  which  provided  that 
no  one  should  practise  physic  and  surgery  within 
the  Province  of  Quebec,  or  midwifery  in  the  towns 
of  Quebec  and  Montreal  without  a  license.  A  li- 
cense was  to  be  obtained  by  passing  an  examination 
conducted  by  capable  persons  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor or  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Province.  This 
regulation  did  not  subject  those  to  an  examination 
who  had  already  taken  a  degree  in  any  university, 
or  had  been  commissioned  as  surgeons  in  the  army 
or  navy.  "But  the  ordinance  of  1788  had  a  radical 
fault.  It  placed  the  study  and  the  practice  of  med- 
icine absolutely  in  the  hands  of  the  executive  power. 
It  opened  the  door  to  partiality,  to  injustice  and  to 
administrative  tyranny.  The  licenses  were  to  be 
given  by  the  Governor,  and  the  examiners  were  to 
be  nominated  by  the  Governor  also,  which  made 
them  simply  officers  of  the  Government  Executive. 
At  a  period  when  prejudice  and  narrow  ideas  in  of- 
ficial spheres  reigned,  this  domestication  of  the  pro- 
fession might  cause  serious  rejection  of  justice. 

"If  one  can  believe  the  memoirs  of  a  contempor- 
ary, this  deplorable  side  of  the  ordinance  soon  be- 
came evident.  The  celebrated  Pierre  de  Sales  La- 
terriere,  who  had  studied  medicine  for  some  time 


22  HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE  IN    QUEBEC. 

before  leaving  France,  and  who  practised  medicine 
from  time  to  time  since  his  arrival  in  Canada  in 
1766,  found  himself  subject  to  the  new  legislation. 
He  had  practised  without  a  diploma,  often  with 
success,  according  to  what  he  says  himself.  But 
henceforth  he  must,  under  the  penalty  of  a  fine, 
abandon  the  practice  of  medicine  or  submit  to  an  ex- 
amination before  the  members  of  a  bureau  appointed 
by  the  Governor.  He  decided  on  the  latter  alterna- 
tive, and  was  the  first  candidate  for  the  study  of 
medicine  who  presented  himself  before  the  Board 
of  Medical  Examiners  in  Canada.  Let  him  relate 
his  unhappy  experience: 

"  'I  had  lost  my  certificate  of  St.  Come,  and  the 
documents  of  my  apprenticeship  in  Paris,  but  I 
knew  I  had  talent  enough  to  pass  an  examination. 
I  was  the  first  to  present  myself  before  the  medical 
bureau  of  examination  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning 
in  the  presence  of  four  practitioners  and  four  coun- 
cillors, and  a  very  large  assembly  attracted  by  curi- 
osity because  there  was  a  new  institution  in  the 
country.  The  examination  lasted  until  four  in  the 
afternoon.  One  question  did  not  wait  for  another. 
However  correct  my  answers  were,  my  examiners, 
because  of  my  failure  to  present  my  letters  to  them, 
did  not  wish  to  permit  me  to  continue  practising.  It 
was  necessary  for  me  to  go  to  another  college  to 
obtain  other  certificates.  Their  partiality,  their  hard- 
ness, their  malice  were  so  apparent  that  many  of 
my  friends,  mere  spectators,  said  to  me,  'Go  to 
Cambridge,  near  Boston,  where,  in  a  short  time, 
with  the  knowledge  that  you  have  obtained  here,  you 
would  obtain  what  you  now  lack.'  My  examiners 
having  seen  that,  and  the  reproaches  that  the  pub- 
lic were  making,  rather  through  shame  than  friend- 
ship, said:  'Yes,  if  the  candidate  should  go  to 
Cambridge  or  elsewhere,  we  will  give  him  a  certifi- 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  23 

cate  favorable  to  the  talents  and  knowledge  which 
he  has  displayed.'  " — '(Memoirs  of  Pierre  de  Sales 
Laterriere.) 

"During  the  winter  and  spring  of  1788  M.  Laterri- 
ere studied  at  Cambridge.  After  passing  a  satisfac- 
tory examination,  in  June,  1789,  he  obtained  the 
diploma  of  Bachelor  of  Medicine  and  returned  to 
Canada.  He  appeared  again  before  the  Medical 
Board,  consisting  of  Drs.  John  Foote,  James  Fisher, 
James  Davidson,  Francois  Lajus  and  Fred  Oliva. 

"The  last  clause  of  the  Act  provided  that  anyone 
holding  a  university  degree  should  not  be  subject  to 
an  examination.  Nevertheless,  the  examiners 
wished  to  examine  him,  saying  that  as  his  diploma 
was  from  a  foreign  university  they  could  only  give 
him  a  simple  certificate  of  study,  and  could  not 
receive  him  unless  he  passed  an  examination.  La- 
terriere submitted  to  the  examination,  which  he 
passed  successfully. 

"The  Ordinance  of  1788  relative  to  the  Medical 
Profession  opened  the  door  to  disadvantages  of 
which  the  most  serious  was  the  arbitrariness  of  the 
executive.  In  proportion  as  the  country  developed, 
as  the  population  increased,  and  as  the  number  of 
candidates  for  medicine  became  greater,  the  acts  of 
injustice  also  became  more  frequent.  The  influence 
of  the  national  and  political  question  was  felt  in  this 
sphere  as  well  as  in  most  others.  The  French  Cana- 
dian physicians  complained  that  owing  to  official 
power,  the  English  physicians  made  them  wait  and 
retained  the  exclusive  authority  over  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  profession  and  of  the  conditions 
of  admission  to  the  learned  fraternity.  It  is 
to  be  noted  that  for  about  forty  years  there  was  not 
a  single  French  Canadian  examiner  either  at  Que- 
bec or  Montreal." — (J.  E.  Roy,  "Histoire  du  No- 
tariat  au  Canada.") 


24  HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN    QUEBEC. 

This  Act  was  repealed  in  1831,  when  another  Act 
was  passed  regulating  the  practice  of  medicine  (I 
William  4  caput  27).  This  Act  provided  that  no 
one  should  act  as  physician  without  a  license  from 
the  Governor,  and  that  all  persons  intending  to  study 
physic  with  a  view  to  obtaining  a  license  should 
undergo  an  examination  before  a  Board  of  Exam- 
iners for  the  election  of  which  provision  was  made 
in  this  Act.  The  Board  was  to  consist  of  twelve 
members,  seven  forming  a  quorum. 

It  was  also  enacted  that  no  license  should  be 
granted  unless  candidate  were  of  full  age  and  had 
served  an  apprenticeship  of  five  years. 

In  1 841  an  Act  was  passed  to  enable  persons  au- 
thorized to  practise  physic  or  surgery  in  Upper  or 
Lower  Canada,  to  practise  in  the  Province  of  Canada. 

By  the  Act  of  1847  tne  medical  profession  in 
Lower  Canada  was  incorporated  under  the  name  of 
"The  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Lower 
Canada"  and  was  empowered  under  certain  restric- 
tions to  frame  its  own  statutes  for  the  regulation 
of  the  study  of  medicine  in  all  its  departments,  and 
by-laws  for  its  own  government. 

In  1849  an  amendment  to  this  Act  was  passed 
which  authorized  the  Provincial  Medical  Board  to 
issue  licenses. 

Let  us  pause  to  consider  for  a  few  moments  what 
were  the  general  conditions  of  the  people  of  Nou- 
velle  France. 

During  the  course  of  time,  increased  intercourse 
with  France  and  England  had  led  to  greater  num- 
bers of  immigrants  reaching  the  colony.  The 
marked  increase  of  population  had  brought  about 
the  prevalence  of  disease,  "that  everlasting  traveller 
which  follows  humanity  wherever  it  goes,"  and  one 
of  its  earliest  manifestations  was  in  epidemic  form. 

The  earliest  disease  to  be  mentioned  was  scurvy 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  2$ 

(mal  de  terre  and  mal  de  mer).  A  description  of 
the  symptoms  and  its  treatment  as  noted  by  Jacques 
Cartier  has  already  been  given.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  here  that  new  and  more  drastic  remedies  were 
evidently  resorted  to.  Captain  Knox  in  his  Jour- 
nal writes : 

"This  morning  I  was  an  eye  witness  to  the  cere- 
mony of  burying  a  man  alive,  mirabile  dictu,  for  the 
sea  scurvy.  To  explain  this  matter,  it  must  be  ob- 
served that  a  pit  was  made  in  the  ground,  and  the 
patient  stood  in  it,  with  his  head  only  above  the 
level  earth ;  then  the  mould  was  thrown  in  loose 
about  him :  and  there  he  remained  for  some  hours ; 
this,  I  am  told,  is  to  be  repeated  every  day  until  his 
recovery  is  perfected." 

Scurvy,  which  was  known  in  the  early  days  of 
New  France  under  the  name  of  "Mal  de  terre," 
and  later  found  to  be  the  same  disease  as  "Mal  de 
mer,"  was  certainly  one  of  the  chief  causes  which 
retarded  the  colonization  of  Canada.  The  disas- 
trous results  were  seen  at  Tadoussac  (1600),  Island 
of  St.  Croix  (1604-5),  Port  Royal  (1506-9),  Que- 
bec (1609),  and  on  the  Island  of  Miscou  (1635). 

After  scurvy  came  smallpox  with  its  attendant 
train  of  fatalities.  There  were  during  the  French 
regime  four  characteristic  epidemics:  1703,  1732, 
1733  and  1755. 

The  epidemic  of  1703  was  particularly  severe. 
The  registers  of  the  Province  of  Quebec  show  that 
there  were  over  two  thousand  deaths,  Indians  in- 
cluded. "Never  had  such  a  misery  been  seen,"  re- 
marks the  historian  of  the  Hotel  Dieu  of  Quebec. 
"Every  one  was  deploring  the  loss  of  a  relative,  one 
of  his  wife,  another  of  her  husband,  one  his  brother, 
another  of  his  children.  Orphans  wept  for  their 
parents ;  all  were  in  tears,  and  there  were  no  gath- 
erings except  for  funerals." 


26  HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE   IN   QUEBEC. 

In  a  letter  written  on  14th  October,  1733,  by 
Beauharnois  to  Hocquart,  it  is  stated  that  "the 
smallpox  which  has  afflicted  this  country  since  the 
end  of  the  Autumn  of  1732,  up  till  to-day,  and  which 
has  carried  off  nearly  2,000  persons  from  this  col- 
ony, has  exhausted  the  resources  of  everyone,  and 
the  suspension  of  all  work  has  necessarily  followed. 
The  working  classes  at  Quebec  are  becoming  from 
day  to  day  more  of  a  burden  upon  men  of  means, 
and  more  upon  us  than  upon  others  by  their  too  fre- 
quent importunities.  We  cannot  find  any  other 
expedient  than  to  find  work  for  them  to  take  them 
out  of  their  misery." 

"It  spread  on  all  sides  throughout  this  Govern- 
ment (Province  or  country)  and  in  that  of  Three 
Rivers  where  it  is  still  prevalent.  By  the  account 
which  has  been  brought  to  me,  about  900  persons 
have  died  from  this  disease  in  the  environs  of  Mont- 
real, as  many  men  as  women,  girls  and  infants.  At 
Quebec,  278.  I  have  not  yet  had  a  list  of  the  num- 
ber in  the  environments  of  Quebec  or  Three  Rivers, 
but  the  number  may  well  be  five  or  six  hundred 
which  this  disease  has  carried  off  from  the  colony. 
It  is  true  that  the  greater  number  are  children,  but 
there  have  been  a  great  number  of  sick  at  Quebec, 
there  being  at  one  time  more  than  2,000  between 
those  in  the  Hotel  Dieu  and  in  private  houses. 

"This  disease  was  commonly  accompanied  by  a 
circumstance  which  was  as  annoying  for  the  sick 
as  for  those  who  cared  for  them.  This  was  the  in- 
supportable odor  which  accompanied  the  disease.  I 
think  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  nv»  to  go  into  de- 
tails. I  have  seen  several  persons  attacked  with  this 
disease  in  France,  but  it  was  far  from  being  as  viru- 
lent as  it  is  in  Canada." 

A  disease  as  dreadful  in  results  as  smallpox  nat- 
urally incited  the  pioneers  in  medicine  to  try  various 


HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  2^ 

methods  of  treatment.  We  find  that  Michel  Sar- 
razin  thought  that  in  his  discovery  of  the  "Sarra- 
cinea  Purpurea"  he  had  found  a  remedy;  but  this 
proved  useless  and  it  was  not  until  1765  that  we 
find  any  attempt  being  made  to  introduce  vaccination 
as  a  preventive.  This  was  first  employed  in  Sep- 
tember, 1768,  by  a  Mr.  Latham,  surgeon  to  the 
King's  or  Eighth  Regiment  of  Foot,  who  announced 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Quebec  that  he  was  prepared 
to  carry  on  this  method  of  prevention. 

The  people  of  New  France  were  indeed  sorely 
afflicted,  for  we  find  that  plague  made  its  appearance 
amongst  them  on  no  less  than  threo  different  occa- 
sions (171 1,  1718,  and  1740).  The  historian  of 
Hotel  Dieu  of  Quebec  relates  thai  it  was  brought 
to  this  country  by  a  ship  hailing  fiom  Siam  where 
the  plague  was  prevalent  about  that  time.  The  dis- 
ease was  therefore  known  as  the  "Disease  of  Siam." 
There  are  no  records  affording  any  description  of 
the  symptoms  of  those  afflicted  with  the  disease, 
hence  any  opinion  as  to  the  exact  nature  of  the 
epidemic  must  be  mere  conjecture.  The  same  au- 
thority, however,  makes  the  following  comments :  "I 
have  never  seen  so  many  sick  in  the  hospital ;  the 
wards,  garrets  and  outer  buildings  all  were  filled, 
and  we  can  hardly  pass  between  the  beds.  All  be- 
came as  black  as  coal  as  soon  as  they  were  dead." 
This  last  remark  may  possibly  justify  the  opinion 
that  the  disease  was  what  is  known  to-day  as  the 
"Pestis  Bubonica."  History  also  relates  the  recur- 
rence of  other  epidemics  of  a  similar  nature,  extend- 
ing over  several  periods  (1710,  1746,  1750,  1756, 
1757,  and  1759).  The  death  rate  was  evidently  very 
high. 

Owing  undoubtedly  to  unhygienic  conditions  at 
this  time  existing,  diseases  other  than  those  just  men- 
tioned of  an  epidemic  nature  were  prevalent  amongst 


28  HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE   IN    QUEBEC. 

the  colonists.  Chest  affections  were  frequent,  and 
the  methods  adopted  to  effect  a  cure  were  perhaps 
unique  in  the  history  of  medicine  in  this  country. 
In  a  letter  from  Vaudreuil  and  Begon  dated  at 
Quebec,  on  6th  October,  1720,  we  learn  that  "there 
are  a  great  number  of  persons  in  these  parts  who 
are  attacked  by  chest  diseases,  and  that  the  most 
efficacious  remedy  is  asses'  milk.  As  there  are  no 
animals  of  this  kind  in  the  colonies,  we  beg  the 
Council  to  see  that  a  male  and  a  female  are  sent 
out  next  year  by  the  ships  of  His  Majesty." 

The  use  of  ice  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  the 
temperature  in  typhoid  fever  is  thought  by  many  to 
be  of  comparatively  recent  date;  but  about  1780  we 
learn  from  the  memoirs  of  Philip  de  Gaspe  that 
when  a  child,  he  had  been  cured  of  a  very  severe 
attack  of  typhus  or  typhoid  fever  by  the  use  of  ice. 
"I  showed  scarcely  any  signs  of  life  for  three  days," 
he  writes,  "my  death  was  expected  each  minute." 
So  far,  the  patient  had  been  treated  by  some  one 
who  possessed  only  a  pretentious  knowledge  of  medi- 
cine ;  as  the  condition  of  the  patient  became  one  of 
extreme  gravity,  Dr.  Fred  Oliva  was  sent  for.  He 
suggested  that  the  child  be  dipped  in  a  bath  of  iced 
water  and  then  wrapped  in  hot  flannels.  "At  the 
end  of  half  an  hour,"  writes  de  Gaspe,  "there  fol- 
lowed an  abundant  perspiration  which  saved  my 
life." 

From  1800  to  1832  the  country  appears,  as  far  as 
one  is  able  to  glean  from  available  sources,  to  have 
been  singularly  free  from  diseases  of  an  epidemic 
nature.  Nevertheless,  Asiatic  cholera,  which  had 
originated  in  India  during  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  gradually  spread  over  extensive 
areas,  until  in  1832  it  reached  France  and  England. 
The  English  Government,  as  Christie  says,  "with 
characteristic  providence  and  anxiety  for  the  wel- 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  20, 

fare  of  the  province,  had  advised  the  Governor  to 
make  preparation  against  it  in  Canada,  as  in  all 
probability  it  would  with  the  influx  of  immigrants 
hither  attend  them.  Legislative  provision  accord- 
ingly was  made  to  meet  the  impending  evil,  and  san- 
itary precautions  were  adopted.  Grosse  Isle,  thirty 
miles  below  the  port  of  Quebec,  was  made  a  quar- 
antine station,  to  which  medical  men  were  appointed, 
and  temporary  wooden  buildings  were  erected  upon 
it  for  hospitals,  and  the  establishment  put  under  mil- 
itary authority." 

The  Spring  of  1832  was  rainy,  cold  and  backward, 
and  remarkable  for  the  prevalence  of  heavy  north- 
easterly gales.  "With  the  arrival,"  writes  Christie, 
"of  every  vessel  bringing  immigrants,  the  pestilence 
was  expected  to  make  its  appearance  in  Quebec. 
At  length,  on  the  8th  of  June,  the  appalling  news 
reached  the  city  of  its  actual  appearance  at  Grosse 
Isle,  by  The  Garricks  from  Dublin,  with  133  passen- 
gers on  board,  59  having  died  of  cholera  during 
the  passage.  From  Quebec  it  bounded  onwards  as 
it  were  by  leaps  in  its  direful  progress  up  the  St. 
Lawrence,  breaking  out  on  the  10th  at  Montreal 
with  great  violence."  The  severity  of  the  epidemic 
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  from  the  9th 
June  to  the  2d  September  no  less  than  2,215  Peo* 
pie  died  from  this  alone  in  the  city  of  Quebec. 
Since  that  time,  there  have  occurred  four  outbreaks 
(1834,  1849,  1%S2  and  1854)  of  Asiatic  cholera  in 
the  Province  of  Quebec. 

Let  us  now  leave  Quebec,  with  its  illustrious  past, 
and  turn  our  attention  to  the  city  where  we  are  now 
meeting  which  was  destined  to  become  the  centre 
of  medical  education.  Montreal  was  in  1816  a  thriv- 
ing town  of  20,000  inhabitants,  a  distribution  centre 
for  immigration  and  the  headquarters  for  the  thriv- 
ing trade  of  the  North  West  Company. 


30  HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC. 

The  various  charitable  institutions  of  this  city 
were  for  several  years  found  inadequate  to  the  in- 
creasing wants  of  the  population,  due  to  the  in- 
crease of  immigration.  The  termination  of  the  war 
in  1815  brought  to  our  shores  vast  numbers  of  per- 
sons who  through  sickness  on  their  passage  or  pov- 
erty on  their  arrival  were  incapable  of  reaching 
their  destination.  Unable  to  procure  either  support 
or  medical  attendance  from  any  funds  of  their  own, 
they  made  an  urgent  appeal  which  prompted  the 
benevolent  inhabitants  of  our  cities  to  devise  means 
for  the  relief  of  these  miserable  exiles.  An  asso- 
ciation of  women  in  Montreal  designated  as  the 
"Ladies'  Benevolent  Society"  was  formed  expressly 
for  the  relief  of  the  indigent  immigrants ;  but  more 
than  this  was  needed.  The  sick  required  medical 
aid;  and  to  attain  this  object,  some  medical  men  of 
the  city  agreed  to  give  their  assistance,  provided  a 
house  could  be  obtained  where  the  most  necessitous 
cases  of  sick  poor  could  be  relieved.  A  small  build- 
ing of  four  apartments  was  then  hired,  and  called 
the  "House  of  Recovery."  Small  as  it  was,  and 
inadequate  to  meet  the  numerous  cases  that  needed 
relief,  it  became  the  germ  of  that  noble  institution 
which  redounds  so  greatly  to  the  benefit  and  honor 
of  the  city  of  Montreal — the  Montreal  General 
Hospital.  This  building  was  soon  found  totally 
inadequate  to  relieve  all  those  who  made  request 
for  assistance,  and  means  were  taken  of  raising  a 
sum  of  money  which,  when  sufficient,  enabled  them 
to  rent  a  larger  house  in  Craig  street.  The  medical 
department  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  four 
physicians  who  attended  monthly  in  rotation ;  one  of 
them  as  house  surgeon  attended  daily  in  cases  of 
accident.  On  the  1st  May,  1819,  such  patients  as 
were  in  the  House  of  Recovery,  together  with  the 
little  property  belonging  to  that  establishment,  were 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  31 

moved  into  the  new  institution,  which  now  assumed 
the  title  of  the  "Montreal  General  Hospital." 

Considerable  interest  had  been  aroused  in  favor 
of  this  newly-established  charity,  and  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  in  August,  1820,  sufficient  funds  had  been 
raised  to  enable  them  to  buy  a  new  site  on  which 
to  erect  a  modern  building.  The  site  which  was 
purchased  was  that  which  is  now  occupied  by  the 
hospital.  On  the  6th  June,  1821,  the  foundation 
stone  was  duly  laid,  and  in  May,  1822,  it  was  opened 
for  the  reception  of  patients.  The  medical  staff 
consisted  of  Doctors  Caldwell,  Robertson,  Holmes 
and  Stephenson.  Within  ten  years  from  the  first 
foundation  of  the  hospital  the  demands  for  admis- 
sion exceeded  its  capacity,  and  an  important  addi- 
tion was  made  to  it,  which  was  opened  for  the  re- 
ception of  patients  in  December,  1832.  The  hos- 
pital at  this  time  contained  nineteen  wards  and  had 
a  capacity  of  160  beds." — (Hochelaga  Depicta.) 

An  institution  attended  by  active  and  energetic 
physicians  and  supplied  with  abundant  clinical  ma- 
terial being  now  a  fully  established  fact,  the  staff 
was  naturally  led  to  approach  the  vexed  problem  of 
medical  education.  The  means  by  which  it  was 
eventually  solved  have  been  most  thoroughly  de- 
scribed by  Dr.  Maude  Abbott  in  her  history  of  the 
Medical  Faculty  of  McGill  University,  and  from 
this  I  shall  venture  to  quote  at  some  length : 

"The  formation  of  a  medical  school  was  the  nat- 
ural outcome  of  a  general  impulse  in  a  rapidly  grow- 
ing city  where  a  real  need  for  medical  teaching  ex- 
ists. As  a  result,  therefore,  we  find  that  in  1822 
lectures  were  publicly  announced  and  given  by  some 
of  the  members  of  the  staff  of  the  Montreal  Gen- 
eral Hospital,  notably,  Drs.  Stephenson  and  Holmes. 
This  continued  for  a  year,  when  a  meeting  of  the 
hospital  medical  staff  was  held  on  the  20th  October, 


2)2  HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE   IN    QUEBEC. 

1823,  to  consider  the  expediency  of  establishing  a 
medical  school.  Steps  were  immediately  taken  to 
organize  a  teaching  staff,  and  to  utilize  the  hospital 
for  clinical  purposes,  to  give  a  course  of  lectures, 
and  these  were  begun  on  the  15th  November,  1824, 
and  delivered  at  the  home  of  the  institution,  the  first 
announcement  of  teaching  reading  as  follows : 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine,  Dr.  Caldwell ; 
Surgery,  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  Dr.  Stephenson ; 
Midwifery  and  Diseases  of  Children,  Dr.  Robertson ; 
Chemistry,  Pharmacy  and  Materia  Medica,  Dr. 
Holmes." 

"This  organization  was  then  known  as  the  Mont- 
real Medical  Institution,  and  the  first  session  of 
this  body  was  held  in  the  Academic  years  1824-5. 
Once  established,  the  Montreal  Medical  Institution 
seems  to  have  worked  its  way  on  quickly  winning 
good  repute  until  1829,  which  marks  an  epoch  in 
its  history  when  it  became  'engrafted  upon'  Mc- 
Gill  University  as  its  medical  faculty.  This  Uni- 
versity, founded  by  the  will  of  the  Hon.  James 
McGill,  did  not  come  into  actual  operation  for  many 
years,  in  spite  of  the  need  that  was  felt  for  such  an 
educational  institution  amongst  the  English-speaking 
population.  The  bequest,  which  consisted  of  £10,000 
and  the  estate  of  Burnside,  was  left  in  trust  for  a 
college  to  The  Royal  Institution  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Learning,  a  body  contemplated  by  a  Pro- 
vincial Act  of  1 801,  but  which  was  not  incorporated 
and  therefore  not  able  to  hold  property  until  the 
year  1818.  This  circumstance,  combined  with  an 
almost  total  lack  of  funds  in  the  institution,  de- 
layed action.  And  delay  was  further  occasioned  by 
protracted  litigation  over  the  bequest.  Indeed,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  farseeing  condition  of  the  be- 
quest, that  the  legacy  should  revert  to  certain  per- 
sons unless  a  university  were  established  within  ten 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  33 

years  of  the  testator's  decease,  it  is  more  than  prob- 
able that  the  project  would  have  been  indefinitely 
delayed. 

"In  the  year  1829,  that  portion  of  the  lawsuit 
which  referred  to  the  bequest  of  the  landed  estate  of 
Burnside  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  University,  but 
the  question  of  the  £10,000  continued  unsettled  for 
many  years  longer,  and  no  funds  were  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  college.  Yet  it  was  felt  that  to  fulfill 
the  conditions  of  the  will  actual  teaching  must  now 
be  done  in  the  University,  and  the  purely  nominal 
appointments  of  1823  be  refilled  or  supplemented. 

"At  this  time  the  eyes  of  the  Royal  Institution  and 
of  the  friends  of  education  were  turned  upon  the 
Montreal  Medical  Institution,  now  an  active  teach- 
ing body  of  established  reputation,  and  it  was  de- 
cided to  bridge  the  difficulty  by  making  this  body 
the  medical  faculty  of  the  University,  its  officers 
becoming  professors  or  lecturers  in  their  respective 
branches. 

"On  June  29,  1829,  the  first  meeting  of  the  Gover- 
nors of  "Burnside  University  of  McGill  College" 
was  called  at  Burnside  House,  which  had  just  come 
into  the  hands  of  the  Royal  Institution  under  the 
will.  This  meeting  had  as  its  object  the  promulga- 
tion of  the  Charter  and  the  Inauguration  of  the 
University.  It  was  largely  attended  by  represen- 
tative citizens  of  all  classes,  and  at  this  meeting  the 
members  of  the  Montreal  Medical  Institution  who 
had  been  invited  to  be  present  were  formally  en- 
grafted upon  the  University  of  McGill  College  as 
its  medical  faculty. 

"The  Montreal  Medical  Institution,  as  it  still  con- 
tinued to  be  called  for  some  years,  was  now  a  fac- 
ulty of  an  established  university  capable  of  granting 
degrees.  For  some  years  the  only  active  work  done 
in  the  university  was  that  in  this  faculty,  and  by  its 


34  HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC. 

simply  fulfilling  the  time  limit  of  the  will,  it  may 
justly  be  said  to  have  saved  the  university  at  least 
from  much  involved  and  tedious  litigation  if,  in- 
deed, it  did  not  preserve  for  it  the  bequest  itself." 

The  improvement  of  medical  education  was  even 
as  early  as  this  period  (1837)  a  much  discussed 
subject,  and  relevant  to  it  is  an  extremely  interesting 
report  and  suggestion  made  by  Sir  John  Doratt, 
M.D.,  then  Inspector-General  of  Hospitals,  who  was 
appointed  by  the  British  Government  to  investi- 
gate, report  upon,  and  advise  regarding  this  ques- 
tion. In  this  report  is  suggested  the  establishment 
of  a  medical  school  in  the  city  of  Quebec  in  con- 
nection with  Hotel  Dieu  and  the  Marine  Hospitals. 
These  hospitals,  it  was  considered,  would  conjointly 
provide  clinical  beds  to  the  number  of  three  hun- 
dred. The  selection  of  Quebec  for  the  proposed 
medical  school  was  due  to  various  reasons.  The 
population  of  the  city  was  now  between  30,000  and 
40,000.  As  the  principal  port  also  for  ocean  ship- 
ping, it  was  at  Quebec  that  the  diseases  continually 
brought  by  incoming  vessels  and  the  accidents  from 
the  process  of  loading  and  unloading  in  port  were 
most  in  evidence.  It  was  here,  therefore,  that  the 
aid  of  medicine  and  surgery  was  most  urgently  re- 
quired. It  was  felt  also  that  the  school  would  at- 
tract from  the  colonies  of  New  Brunswick,  Nova 
Scotia  and  Prince  Edward  Island  the  young  men 
who  had  hitherto  been  compelled  to  go  abroad  for 
an  opportunity  of  studying  medical  science. 

Among  the  suggestions  regarding  the  course  of 
medicine  to  be  pursued  was  the  proposed  regula- 
tion that  the  whole  period  allotted  for  education 
at  the  medical  school  should  be  five  years.  The  first 
three  years  were  to  be  passed  in  strict  attendance 
at  the  school  of  medicine  and  the  last  two  years  in 
close  attendance  to  duties  at  the  hospital.     It  was 


HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE  IN  QUEBEC.  35 

further  suggested  that  the  clinics  at  the  hospital 
should  be  given  from  8  to  10  a.  m.  These  sugges- 
tions are  worthy  of  note,  since  it  is  only  within  the 
last  year  that  both  McGill  and  its  sister  university, 
Laval,  have  adopted  five  years  as  the  period  neces- 
sary for  the  prescribed  course  of  study.  The  sug- 
gestion of  early  clinics  is  now  also  under  consider 
ation. 

The  year  1826,  it  is  to  be  noted  in  closing,  marked 
an  era  in  the  history  of  medicine  of  the  Province  of 
Quebec:  It  gave  birth  to  the  first  attempt  which 
had  been  made  with  a  view  to  opening  a  free  inter- 
course with  the  literary  world,  and  to  promoting  the 
interest  and  cultivation  of  medical  science  within  the 
limits  of  our  country  by  the  formation  of  the  first 
medical  society  in  Quebec.  The  President  was  Jo- 
seph Morrin.  It  was  at  the  same  time  that  the 
first  medical  journal  in  the  Province  appeared,  with 
the  following  words  on  the  title-page:  "Journal  de 
Medecine  de  Quebec,  public  et  redige  par  Xavier 
Tessier." 

The  period  of  time  allotted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  history  of  medicine  in  our  province  has  been 
covered  and  it  remains  to  me  now  to  express  with 
the  greatest  of  pleasure  my  sincerest  thanks  to  Dr. 
A.  G.  Doughty,  C.M.G.,  Dominion  Archivist,  for 
the  privilege  accorded  in  having  access  to  the  val- 
uable manuscripts  and  works  in  the  Archives ;  also 
for  his  invaluable  assistance  and  suggestions  in  the 
preparation  of  this  paper,  and  his  arrangement  of 
the  bibliography ;  to  Dr.  N.  E.  Dionne,  Librarian  of 
the  Provincial  Legislature  of  Quebec,  for  his  kind 
assistance;  to  Mr.  C.  B.  Gould,  Librarian  of  the 
Peter  Redpath  Library,  McGill  University,  for  the 
privilege  of  consulting  the  valuable  works  of  ref- 
erence ;  to  his  able  assistant,  Miss  Hepburn,  for  her 
untiring  energy  in  carrying  out  and  preparing  the 


3^  HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC. 

research  work;  and  to  Miss  Charlton,  Librarian  of 
the  Medical  Faculty  of  McGill  University,  for  her 
very  kind  assistance. 

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Medecine,  Rapport  du  Comite  Special  sur  le  Bill  pour 
Amender  les  Lois  Relative  a  la  Practique  de  la  Mede- 
cine, de  la  Chirurgie;  et  de  l'Art  Obstetrique  dans  le 
Bas-Canada:  s.l.n.d.  (vers.  1852),  ni  titre  particulier. 
66  pp.,  in.  8. 

Medecins  Statuts  Regles  et  Reglements  du  College  des 
Medecins  et  Chirurgiens  du  Bas-Canada:  Montreal, 
1849.  28  pp.,  in.  12.  Precede  de  l'acte  d'incorporation  et  de 
l'acte  pour  l'amender. 

Morgan,  Henry  James,  1842:  Sketches  of  celebrated 
Canadians  and  persons  connected  with  Canada,  from  the 
earliest  period  in  the  history  of  the  province  down  to  the 
present  time.  By  Henry  James  Morgan,  .  .  .  Quebec: 
Hunter  Bros.  &  Co.,  xiii.,  779  pp.,  21.    J^mo. 

Morrin,  J. :  "Cholera  at  Quebec."  Boston  Medical  and 
Surgical  Journal,  Vol.  6,  379,  382.    1832. 

McCrae,  John  :  A  Canadian  Hospital  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century.  By  John  McCrae,  M.B.  Reprinted  from  the 
Montreal  Medical  Journal,  July,  1906. 

Painchaud,  Joseph  :  Extrait  d'une  lecture  sur  le  chol- 
era Asiatique  faite  l'automne  dernier.  Par  M.  le  Docteur 
Painchaud,  sous  le  patronage  de  lTnstitut  Canadien  de 
Quebec.  Quebec :  Imprimerie  du  "Canadien,"  No.  9  rue  La 
Montagne,  Basse-ville,  1849.    24mo,  24  pp. 

Parkman,  Francis:  "The  Jesuits  in  North  America  in 
the  Seventeenth  Century."  Boston :  Little,  Brown  &  Co. 
Fourteenth  Ed.,  1880.  Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.  Thir- 
tieth Ed.,  1892.    First  Ed.  in  1867. 

Parkman,  Francis  :  The  Old  Regime  in  Canada,  France, 
and  England  in  North  America.  Part  fourth.  By  Francis 
Parkman,  in  2  vols.    Boston:   Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1897. 

Powell,  Robert  Wynyard,  M.D. :  The  Doctor  in  Can- 
ada; His  Whereabouts,  and  the  Laws  Which  Govern  Him. 


40  HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE   IN    QUEBEC. 

A  ready  book  of  reference  by  Robert  Wynyard  Powell, 
M.D.,  Ottawa.  Montreal :  Printed  by  the  Gazette  Print- 
ing Company.    8vo,  342  pp. 

Rapport  sur  le  Congres  de  l' Association  Americaine 
d'Hygiene  Publique  Tenu  a  Mexico  et  sur  la  Visite 
aux  Quarantaines  de  la  Nouvelle-Orleans,  de  San 
Francisco  et  de  Victoria,  C.  A. :   No  title  page.    8vo.,  pp. 

41. 

Roy,  Jos-Edmund,  de  la  Medecine  et  des  Medecins  a 
l'Origine  de  la  Nouvelle  France  in  review,  le  Canada 
Franchise,  Vol.  II.,  p.  595,  1889. 

Sagard-Theodat,  Gabriel:  Histoire  du  Canada,  et  voy- 
ages que  les  Freres  Mineurs  recollets  y  ont  faictes  pout  la 
conversion  des  infideles  depuis  l'an  1615.  Par  Gabriel 
Sagard-Theodat,  avec  un  dictionnaire  de  la  langue 
huronne.  Nouv.  Ed.  Pub.  par  M.  Edwin  Tross,  .  .  . 
Paris :  Librairie  Tross,  1866.    4  v.    20J4  cm. 

Sulte,  Benjamin,  1841 :  Histoire  des  Canadiens-Fran- 
cais  1680-1880;  origine,  histoire,  religion,  guerres,  decou- 
vertes,  colonisation,  coutumes,  vie  domestique,  sociale,  et 
politique,  developpement,  avenir.  Par  Benjamin  Suite,  .  . 
Montreal:  Wilson  &  Cie.,  1882-84.  8  v.  Front.,  pi.,  port., 
maps,  plans,  tab.  33  x  25  cm.  Vol  8  pub.  by  Societe  de 
Publication  Historique  du  Canada. 

Tache,  J.  C. :  "Memoire  sur  le  cholera."  Publiee  par  au- 
torite,  imprimee  pour  le  Bureau  d' Agriculture  et  des 
Statistiques,  1866. 

Underwood,  Michel  :  Traite  sur  les  maladies  des  en- 
fants.  Par  Michel  Underwood,  M.D.  Licencie  dans  l'Art 
d'Accoucheur  du  College  Royal  des  medecins  a  Londres. 
Quebec.     6  p.,  n.c,  123  pp.     1803. 

Society  Transactions. 

reviews  and  journals. 

Abbott,  Maude  E.,  B.A.,  M.D. :  "An  Historical  Sketch  of 
the  Medical  Faculty  of  McGill  University."  Montreal  Med- 
ical Journal,  Vol.  31,  No.  8,  August,  1902. 

Cochran,  A.  W.,  D.C.L. :  "Notes  of  the  Measures  Adopt- 
ed by  Government  Between  1775  and  1786  to  Check  the 
St.  Paul's  Bay  Disease."  Transactions  of  the  Literary  and 
Historical  Society  of  Quebec,  Vol.  4,  1841. 

David,  A.  H.,  M.D. :  "Reminiscences  Connected  with 
the  Medical  Profession  in  Montreal  During  the  Last  Fifty 
iTears."    The  Canadian  Medical  Record,  1882. 

Dionne,  Narcisse  Eutrope,  1848:  Champlain.    By  N.  E. 


HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  41 

Dionne.  Ed.  de  luxe.  Toronto:  Morang  &  Co.,  Limited, 
1905.  xviii.,  299  pp.,  front  (port.)  24  cm.  (half  title:  The 
Makers  of  Canada.  Ed.  by  D.  C.  Scott  and  Pelham  Ed- 
gar). Series  title  also  at  head  of  t.p.  This  edition  is 
limited  to  four  hundred  signed  and  numbered  sets,  of 
which  this  is  No.  196,  signed  George  E.  Morang. 

Drummond,  W.  H.,  M.D. :  "Pioneers  of  Medicine  in  the 
Province  of  Quebec."  Montreal  Medical  Journal,  Septem- 
ber, 1898. 

Foucher,  A.  A.,  M.D. :  "The  Origin,  Evolution,  and 
Present  Condition  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine  in  Canada." 
Montreal  Medical  Journal,  Vol.  33,  1904. 

"Histoire  de  l'Hopital  General."  Publiee  a  Quebec  en 
1882,  intitulee :  "Monsiegneur  de  Saint-Vallier,  et  l'Hopital 
General  de  Quebec."   743  pp.,  in  8  royal. 

"Letters  of  Mere  St.  Ignace  to  Pere  Jean  de  Lambre- 
ville"  (a  propos  du  Dr.  Sarrazin).  October  15,  1697;  Oct. 
21,  1698;  Nov.  10,  1703. 

Letters  of  Mother  Duplessis  of  Ste.  Helene  (a  pro- 
pos du  Dr.  Sarrazin).    October  21,  1720. 

Archives  of  the  Hotel  Dieu  at  Quebec. 

Osler,  Wm,  M.D.:  "The  Growth  of  a  Profession." 
Canada  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  1885. 

Tanguay,  Abbe  Cyprien  :  "A  Travers  les  Registres." 
Montreal :  Librairie  St.  Joseph,  Cadieux  &  Derome,  1866. 

MANUSCRIPTS   IN   THE  CANADIAN   ARCHTVES   RELATING   TO   THE 
HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE  IN  LOWER  CANADA. 

(Series  S.) 

Solicitor  General's  Report  on  Dr.  Stephenson's  letter 
respecting  the  granting  of  medical  degrees  in  McGill  Col- 
lege.   Quebec,  15th  July,  1831. 

Letter  of  Dr.  John  Stephenson,  Secretary  of  Medical 
Faculty  of  McGill  College,  giving  an  account  of  the  med- 
ical institution  since  its  commencement.  Montreal,  29th 
October,  1851. 

Memorial  of  the  Medical  Faculty  of  McGill  College, 
relative  to  the  conferring  of  degrees  and  diplomas  by  the 
faculty.    Montreal,  28th  October,  1831. 

Solicitor  General's  Report  on  the  statutes  and  regula- 
tions submitted  for  approval  by  the  medical  faculty  of 
McGill  College.    Quebec,  nth  November,  1831. 

Letter  of  Dr.  John  Stephenson,  Secretary  of  the  Med- 
ical Faculty  of  McGill  College,  transmitting  the  Memorial 
of  the  Medical  Faculty  of  McGill  College  and  a  sketch  of 
the  Medical  School.    2d  November,  1831. 


43  HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC. 

Cholera  Morbus  :  First  report  of  the  Medical  Board  on 
cholera  morbus.    Quebec,  12th  November,  1831. 

Dr.  George  Roberts:  Communication  to  the  Medical 
Board  of  Quebec  on  the  subject  of  cholera  morbus.  Que- 
bec, 27th  October,  1831. 

Petition  from  the  Magistrates  that  precautionary 
measures  be  adopted  to  check  the  progress  of  Asiatic  chol- 
era.   Quebec,  25th  January,  1832. 

MANUSCRIPTS   IN  THE  CANADIAN   ARCHIVES  RELATING  TO  THE 
HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE  IN  NEW  FRANCE  AND  LOWER  CANADA. 

(Series  M.) 

History  of  the  Hotel  Dieu  of  Quebec,  1636-1716. 

Extraits  Divers  des  Archives  de  l'Hopital  General  de 
Quebec,  1645-1797. 

Registres  Journaliers  des  Malades  a  l'Hatel  Dieu  de 
Quebec,  du  iier  Juin,  1709,  au  31  Decembre,  1824,  7  vols. 

MANUSCRIPTS   IN   THE  CANADIAN   ARCHIVES   RELATING  TO   THE 
HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE  IN    NEW   FRANCE, 

(Series  F.) 

Intendant  Raudot  to  the  Minister — An  Army  surgeon 
wanted,  etc.    Quebec,  17th  November,  1708.    Vol.  26,  p.  271. 

Begon  to  the  Minister — Services  rendered  by  Sieur 
Sarrazin,  Physician.     Quebec,  12th  November,  1704.     Vol. 

34,  P-  304. 

Vaudreuil  and  Begon  to  the  Minister,  Concerning  the 
Surgeon  of  the  Hotel  Dieu.  Quebec,  6th  November,  1720. 
Vol.  42,  p.  100. 

Vaudreuil  and  Begon  to  the  Minister,  Concerning  Dr. 
Sarrazin.    Quebec,  26th  October,  1720.    Vol.  24,  p.  15. 

Begon  to  the  Minister.  On  the  claim  of  Sieur  Coffi- 
nier,  Surgeon  of  the  Hotel  Dieu,  Quebec.  Quebec,  14th 
October,  1723,  Vol.  45,  p.  172. 

Hocquart  to .    Praises  Sarrazin,  Berthier  and  Beno- 

ist,  Medical  men.    Quebec,  3d  October,  1733,  Vol.  60,  p.  37. 

Beauharnois  &  Hocquart  to  the  Minister.  Ask  for  a 
surgeon :  Alavoine,  A  Surgeon  asks  for  an  increase  of  sal- 
ary.   Quebec,  17th  January,  1730,  Vol.  52,  p.  191. 

Beauharnois  &  Hocquart  to  the  Minister.  Death  and 
eulogy  of  Dr.  Sarrazin,  at  the  age  of  70  years.  Ask  for 
pension  for  his  widow  and  five  children,  and  assistance  for 
his  son,  who  is  studying  medicine  in  Paris.  Quebec,  18th 
September,  1734,  Vol.  61,  p.  3. 

Dr.  Sarrazin  to  the  Minister.     Memorandum  on  the 


HISTORY  OF   MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  43 

mineral  waters  of  Cap  de  la  Madeleine.  Quebec,  ioth 
October,  1732.    Series  F,  Vol.  58,  p.  99. 

Beauharnois  &  Hocquart  to  the  Minister.  Excessive 
heat,  hospitals  crowded  with  those  with  the  smallpox.  Que- 
bec, 14th  October,  1733,  Vol.  59,  p.  134. 

Hocquart  to  the  Minister.  About  the  request  of  one 
Lajus  who  wished  to  be  appointed  surgeon  Commis  aux 
Rapports.  Cannot  recommend  him,,  as  he  is  but  of  medi- 
ocre capacity.     Quebec,  28th  September,  1739,  Vol.  71,  p. 

134. 

Beauharnois  &  Hocquart  to  the  Minister.  Praise 
Sieur  Gauthier,  physician,  Sieur  Felz  having  been  appointed 
surgeon-general  to  the  troops  at  Montreal,  compensation 
is  due  to  the  Sieurs  Benoit,  father  and  son.  Quebec,  13th 
September,  1742,  Vol.  77,  p.  9. 

MANUSCRIPTS   IN   THE  CANADIAN   ARCHIVES   RELATING  TO  THI 
SIEUR  GAUTHIER,  1744-1750. 

(Series  B.)    French. 

The  President  of  the  Navy  Board  to  Beauharnois  & 
Hocquart,  Sieur  Gauthier,  who  was  appointed  King's  Phy- 
sician in  Canada,  will  go  there  this  year.  Also  respecting 
the  Sieurs  Briant,  Felz  and  Benoit.     17th  April,  1742,  Vol. 

74- 

Memorandum  from  the  King  to  Beauharnois  &  Hoc- 
quart.  The  Sieur  Gauthier,  Physician,  having  assiduously 
and  with  success  followed  the  Sieur  Verrier's  lessons  in 
Jurisprudence,  is  appointed  Councillor.  24th  March,  1744, 
Vol.  78. 

The  President  of  the  Navy  Board  to  M.  Gauthier.  Has 
procured  him  the  position  of  Assessor  to  the  Council,  30th 
March,  1744,  Vol.  78. 

The  President  of  the  Navy  Board  to  La  Jonquiere  and 
Bigot.  Approves  of  their  granting  the  Fishery  Concession 
at  Baie  des  Chateaux  to  Dr.  Gauthier.  30th  April,  1749, 
Vol.  89. 

The  President  of  the  Navy  Board  to  Beauharnois  and 
Hocquart,  relating  to  the  appointment  of  the  Sieurs  Guil- 
lemin  and  Gauthier  to  the  Superior  Council,  30  March, 
1744,  Vol.  78. 

The  President  of  the  Navy  Board  to  M.  Verrier.  Has 
appointed  the  Sieur  Gauthier  and  Guillemin,  two  of  his 
pupils,  members  of  the  Superior  Council,  17th  April,  1744. 
Vol.  78. 

The  President  of  the  Navy  Board  to  Bigot.    Has  done 


44  HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC. 

well  in  sending  the  different  seeds  that  the  Sieur  Gauthier, 
Physician,  has  collected  for  the  King's  garden,  18th  April, 
1745,  Vol.  89. 

The  President  of  the  Navy  Board  to  Bigot.  Is  satisfied 
with  Dr.  Gauthier's  report  on  the  mines  discovered  at  Baie 
St.  Paul,  31st  May,  1750,  Vol.  91. 

The  President  of  the  Navy  Board  to  Vaudreuil  and 
Bigot.  The  Sieur  Chamel  has  been  chosen  for  the  position 
of  King's  Physician,  vacant  by  the  death  of  Sieur  Gauthier, 
27th  March,  1757,  Vol.  105. 

MANUSCRIPTS    IN    THE    CANADIAN    ARCHIVES    RELATING    TO    DR. 

JAMES  BOWMAN'S  CLAIM   RESPECTING  THE  ST.   PAUL'S 

BAY   DISEASE. 

(Series  S.) 

Bowman  to  the  Committee  on  Public  Accounts.  Me- 
morial respecting  his  account.    No  date  (1785?). 

Agreement  between  Hamilton  and  Bowman  respecting 
the  latter's  treatment  of  patients,  etc.    No  date  (1785). 

Lt.-Gov.  Henry  Hamilton  to  Dr.  Bowman.  Appoints 
him  to  administer  and  distribute  the  medicines  in  con- 
nection with  the  St.  Paul's  Bay  disease.  Shall  keep  a 
diary  according  to  instructions  received.  Shall  endeavor 
to  conciliate  the  good  will  of  the  clergy.  Instructions 
concerning  medicinal  springs.  Shall  collect  materials  for 
a  complete  history  of  the  disorder  for  publishing.  18th 
April,   1785. 

Dr.  James  Davidson  to  Bowman.  Brief  report  of  what 
he  has  done  in  connection  with  the  observation  and  treat- 
ment of  the  disease.    Quebec,  20th  April,  1785. 

Prendergast,  Thomas,  to  Bowman.  Has  attended  a 
number  of  patients,  great  satisfaction  with  the  medicine 
given.    Three  Rivers,  26th  April,  1785. 

Dr.  James  Bowman.  Extract  from  his  journal.  Ex- 
amination of  a  mineral  spring  near  the  church  of  Chateau- 
Richer.    24th  May,  1785. 

Hamilton  to  Bowman.  Approves  of  his  whole  conduct. 
10th  October,  1785. 

Lt.-Gov.  Henry  Hamilton  to  Hugh  Finlay,  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Public  Accounts,  concerning  Dr. 
Bowman's  case.    25th  October,  1785. 

Bowman  to  Hamilton.  General  report  on  his  mission. 
Prays  for  protection.    Three  Rivers,  29th  October,  1785. 

Hamilton  to  Brigadier  General  Hope.  Transmits  Bow- 
man's letter  of  the  same  date  and  recommends  him  for 
protection.    29th  October,  1785. 


HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC.  45 

Bowman  to  Hamilton.  Extract  of  a  letter.  Reports 
what  he  has  done.  Complains  against  Government  which 
does  not  fulfil  its  promises.    November,  1785. 

Bowman  to  Hope.  Respecting  his  plan  of  treatment  of 
the  disease.     16th  November,  1785. 

Gray,  Alexander,  to  Bowman.  Asks  for  report,  vouch- 
ers, details,  etc.,  on  his  work.    Quebec,  3d  December,  1785. 

Bowman  to  Gray.  Sends  him  copies  of  certificates  for 
the  inspection  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Accounts.  8th 
December,  1785. 

Bowman  to  Dr.  Mabane.  On  the  scientific  part  of  the 
business  he  was  employed  in.    20th  December,  1785. 

Bowman.  Letters  respecting  his  accounts.  20th  and 
21st  December,  1785. 

Bowman  to  Alexander  Gray.  The  Bishop's  circular 
letter  will  explain  the  expectations  of  the  clergy.  22nd 
December,  1785. 

Bowman  to  Hamilton.  Has  acted  according  to  his  in- 
structions of  the  18th  April,  1785.  Notes  that  the  disease 
has  within  a  few  years  spread  over  the  Province ;  ravages 
made  are  alarming;  hopes  the  prosecution  of  the  plan 
adopted  will  be  successful ;  clergy  is  warmly  engaged  in 
assisting  with  their  influence.    No  date  (1785?). 

Abbe  Deguire  to  Dr.  Bowman.  Congratulates  him  on 
the  success  which  has  crowned  his  efforts.  19th  January, 
1786. 

Abbe  Conefroy  to  Dr.  Bowman.  Congratulates  him  on 
the  success  he  has  attained.    31st  January,  1786. 

Report  of  Committee  of  Executive  Council  on  the  de- 
mand of  Dr.  Bowman,  dated  7th  March,  1785.  3d  Febru- 
ary, 1786. 

J.  Fraser,  Executive  Councillor.  Opinion  on  Dr.  Bow- 
man's case,  22d  February,  1786. 

Mr.  Harrison's  Retraction.    22d  February,  1786. 

Mr.  Mabane's  Reasons  for  His  Conduct  re  Bowman's 
case.     21st  February,   1786. 

Bowman  to  Henry  Hope,  Lt.-Gov.  Part  of  the  letter 
(28  pages)  in  which  he  sends  an  account  of  the  amount 
charged  by  him  for  the  execution  of  the  plan  concerning 
the  St.  Paul's  Bay  disease ;  Certificates  of  priests,  and  re- 
ports generally  on  his  mission.  (The  last  part  of  this  let- 
ter being  lost,  there  is  neither  signature  nor  date.) 

Bowman  to  Lord  Dorchester.  In  explanation  of  his 
conduct.     16th   November,   1786. 

Bowman  to  Lord  Dorchester.  Complains  of  bad  treat- 
ment, and  asks  for  protection.    14th  May,  1787. 


46  HISTORY  OF    MEDICINE  IN   QUEBEC. 

Ordinances  Made  and  Passed  by  the  Governor  and 
Legislative  Council  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  and  now  in 
force  in  the  Province  of  Lower  Canada.  28th  George  3, 
caput  8  (1786). 

The  Provincial  Statutes  of  Lower  Canada,  Vol.  14, 
Quebec  :  Printed  under  the  authority  and  by  the  command 
of  His  Excellency  the  Governor-in-Chief  as  the  Act  of 
the  Provincial  Parliament  directs,  by  John  Charlton 
Fisher  and  William  Kemble,  Law  Printers  to  the  King's 
Most  Excellent  Majesty.  Anno  Domini,  1831.  1  Wm.  4th, 
caput  27. 

Provincial  Statutes  of  Canada,  Vol.  1.  Kingston  : 
Printed  by  Stewart  Derbishire  and  George  Desbarats,  Law 
Printers  to  Her  Most  Excellent  Majesty.  Anno  Domini, 
1841.    4th  and  5th  Vic,  caput  14. 

Provincial  Statutes  of  Canada,  Vol.  2,  3d  Session,  2d 
Parliament.  Montreal:  Printed  by  Stewart  Derbishire 
and  George  Desbarats,  Law  Printers  to  the  Queen's  Most 
Excellent  Majesty.  Anno  Domini  1847.  10th  and  nth 
Vic,  caput  26. 

Provincial  Statutes  of  Canada,  Vol.  3,  2d  Session,  3d 
Parliament.  Montreal:  Printed  by  Stewart  Derbishire 
and  George  Desbarats,  Law  Printers  to  the  Queen's  Most 
Excellent  Majesty.    Anno  Domini,  1849.     12  Vic,  caput  52. 

Histoire  du  Notariat  au  Canada  Depuis  La  Fondation 
de  la  Colonie.  Jusqu'a  nos  Jours.  Par  Edmond  Roy, 
Docteur  des  Lettres  de  l'Universite  Laval  de  Quebec,  Mem- 
bre  de  la  Societe  Royale  du  Canada,  Membre  de  la  Cham- 
bre  des  Notaires  de  la  Province  de  Quebec,  Directeur  de 
la  Revue  du  Notariat.  Levis,  Imperime  a  la  Revue  du 
Notariat. 


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